Friedrich Kunath: The Temptation To Exist (May Contain Nuts)

There’s a lot going on to both look at and think about in The Temptation To Exist (May Contain Nuts) – Friedrich Kunath’s fourth solo exhibit now up at the Andrea Rosen Gallery – in that the exhibit is made up of three distinct series of works.

In the foyer of the gallery and continuing in the large main space you can see a series of Cat Habitats, adorned with watermelon wedges and other fresh fruits in various states of consumption, all entitled Meloncholy Tower. Melon, Tower, that has to be some kind of a pun, right? And do cats even eat watermelon? Discuss.

Elsewhere, Kunath presents a series of emotionally evocative paintings that are what I’d call “Dreamscapes” — juxtaposing bucolic landscape images with a dreamlike scene overlapping or placed within the larger picture, creating a “Daydream Versus Reality” vibe.

I am not usually a sentimental person when it comes to relationships, but this one killed me.

Spreading across the rear wall of the main gallery and continuing into the next room is a multi-panel Rainbow Flag-style series of paintings where each canvas features one small object (ranging from a frog to a candle or a single daisy). This series is entitled I Was Thinking About What a Friend Had Said, I Was Hoping it Was a Lie, which is a lyric from Neil Young’s profoundly melancholy (Meloncholy) song, “After the Goldrush.” So, there’s that.

The Temptation To Exist (May Contain Nuts) by Friedrich Kunath will be on Exhibit through April 26th, 2014 at Andrea Rosen Gallery, Located at 525 West 24th Street in the Chelsea Gallery District.